Display Abstract

Title Hotspot Invasion: Traveling Wave Solutions to a Reaction-Diffusion Model for Criminal Behavior

Name Nancy Rodriguez
Country USA
Email nrodriguez@math.stanford.edu
Co-Author(s)
Submit Time 2011-12-14 18:38:25
Session
Special Session 3: Mathematics of Social Systems
Contents
We study a class of reaction-diffusion models that can be taken as basic models for the dynamics of criminal activity. In this talk I will first discuss the existence of steady-state solutions and discuss the condition that determine whether there there are one, two, or three steady-states. The latter case corresponds to a bi-stable system and in this case we prove the existence of traveling wave solutions in one dimension. Physically, this correspond to the invasion of 'hotspots' into areas that have naturally low crime rates. I will also discuss some numerical results on obstruction of wave propagation.